Continued from Natural Dyeing: Hardy Hibiscus (With Mordant).
I followed the same procedure as hibiscus dyeing with mordant, but I kept a closer eye on time and temperature. I also decreased the
amount of flowers and fiber to four ounces each. It was easier to collect that
amount and keep the flowers fresh in the fridge while I collected.
Preparing the dyebath
- Pour boiling water over the flowers
- Bring to a simmer
- Simmer flowers for about 30 minutes.
- Strain
Dyeing the fiber
 |
| lovely color in the dyepot |
- Add the wet, unmordanted fiber
- Heat to a simmer
- Simmer 30 to 60 minutes
- Let steep overnight as it cools
The Results
This is after washing and drying.
Does it even look like there's a color change? It's hard to tell! Below is a
comparison of undyed and hibsicus dyed samples from both experiments. The
undyed sample is in the middle.
|
| Left: hibiscus with mordant. Center: undyed. Right: hibiscus without mordant. |
Interesting, considering how much color was left in the exhausted
dyepot.
|
| exhausted dyepot after dyeing |
I'll also mention that I washed the two samples with different soaps because
hibiscus is supposed to be pH sensitive. For the mordanted fiber, I used
soap berries. For the non-mordanted dye experiment, I used
EOS unscented dishwashing liquid. The difference is in pH. Soap berries are slightly acidic, and
dishwashing liquids are slightly alkaline. I can't say I see that it made a
difference in the final color of the fiber samples compared to the color before washing.
Analysis
Supposedly, hibiscus flowers dye animal fibers shades of purple. I had no
such luck. Of the possible factors I mentioned
last time,
I can eliminate temperature and time. All other factors remain as
possibilities. Gray is a natural fiber color, so I thought it was a lot of
work for the color results.
Different mordants might make a difference in the color results, as might after dips. Bit for now, so much for dyeing with hibiscus flowers.
2 comments:
Leigh, I feel like sometimes you win, sometimes you lose? If it is of any comfort, cheese and yogurt making here in New Home 2.0 is significantly different than in New Home. I am still working it out.
TB, people who like predictable results tend to go more for commercial dyes.
Interesting about your cheese and yogurt making! Working with living foods is challenging anyway, but I never thought about location as one of the variable factors.
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